Product description

The Princess Elizabeth is slated to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon attacks the castle and kidnaps Ronald. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth finds the dragon, outsmarts him, and rescues Ronald --- who is less than pleased at her un-princess-like appearance. Full color throughout. About the Annikin Series: "Annikins" are mini books made especially for children -- small enough to fit into tiny hands and pockets. Each book measures 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and contains full color pages. Individual titles available in quantities of 20s only.

Author information

Robert Munsch is the author of more than 25 books for children including "The Paper Bag Princes" and "Stephanie's Ponytail." He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and studied to be a Jesuit priest before deciding to work with children instead. He taught in a variety of nursery schools and daycare centers while he earned an MA in Early Childhood Education. In 1975, Munsch and his wife, Ann, moved to Guelph, Ontario. The Munschs have three children: Julie, Andrew, and Tyya (see them all in "Something Good!"). Michael Martchenko has illustrated over 30 books for children and has exhibited his work throughout North America. He has won numerous awards for design and illustration. He lives with his wife, Patricia, in Toronto.

Customer reviews

At first, the story looks like any other fairy tale. There is a princess, a prince and a dragon, typical fairy tale characters; however, this is not your classical fairy tale. Thank god for that. Stories where princesses are waiting to be rescued by charming princes and are so delicate and helpless that they might faint any moment, are really getting old. This one is different, all the pieces of fairy tales are there (big bad dragon, a prince, a princess, a castle, the rescue and cunning) but the way they are put together is something different, something new and fresh.
The language is smooth and the characters are well developed. The author managed to create real, picturesque characters with only a few lines. Forget about Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora who get their happy ending not because they are particularly smart or because they had worked hard for it but because they are beautiful, that is all. What an accomplishment. This is not what we want to teach our children. The Paper Bag Princess gives us a real heroine. The main character is strong, clever and independent, a great role model for girls and boys.
The story is appropriate for children between ages 3 to 8, but even I as a grown up enjoyed reading the story. I think that has a lot to do with the story itself, characters, wonderful illustrations and humor. Humor is what gives the story that kick, children and adults alike would appreciate it greatly. The story has an interesting and unexpected ending and it makes you say: “High five.”
The story comes to life with the help of expressive illustrations: the snobbish prince, the mean and not very clever dragon and one determined princess. The illustrations are playful with a dose of funny. Nicely done.

This is a miniature edition of Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess and is part of the Annikin editions. It measures just 8.5 cm by 8.5 cm in size. My children LOVE these tiny books! They work well for their little hands. They are great for taking along on a trip in the car as they easily fit in a small purse or bag and weigh next to nothing.

If you are looking for other Annikin edition books, they generally cost around $2. Check the bibliographic data and check the dimensions listed for the book to be certain.

This is a lovely story, and one that I remember fondly from my childhood. It subverts the normal archetypes, telling the tale of a princess whose castle is destroyed by a dragon that flies away with her prince. All her clothes having been burnt, she puts on a paper bag and follows the trail to the dragon's lair, where she outsmarts the dragon and rescues the prince. However, the snooty prince turns up his nose at her dirty appearance, leading to the princess to reply: "Ronald, your clothes are really pretty and your hair is all neat. You look like a real prince, but you are a bum." It still makes me laugh now.

It is quite a short and simple story but nicely written and with a full illustration alongside each page. The copy I am buying now is for my 4-year old cousin.

However, I didn't look at the details when I was buying, and was rather disappointed to find that this edition is TINY!! It measures 8.5 cm square, and cute as it is, does not feel like a 'real' book. So the price may be cheap, but be aware that this is the reason why - check the full product information.

Review quote

Lush and beguiling legends and gloriously gory descriptions... rich with color... will rivet all but the most squeamish readers.